Africa Highlights

One of the biggest problems photographing small mammals like meerkats is that we're usually shooting down on them, making them look trivial and uninteresting. By being in place hunkered down in the sand before dawn near the burrow used by a family of Meerkats I was able to get this ideal portrait of one of the females when she emerged and stood up to begin the day's watch for Eagles--their traditional enemies. Photograph taken in the Khalahari Desert, Botswana, Africa.

Even spending many weeks in the bush following bit cats it is rare to actually witness a kill. This female leopard took advantage of the distraction of the rut to sneak up on this full grown male Impala. Amazingly she brought it down almost instantly, but we then watched as she held it in an almost romantic looking deadly embrace to complete her kill. Photo taken near Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana, Africa

Composing an image of zebra in black and white doesn't take much imagination, but in this case framing the image so that only the legs of the mother show and in turn frame the foal did require some creativity. We'd been following this herd off and on for several days, but it took that long to find the pose I was looking for. Photograph taken in the Savuti Channel, Linyanti Region, Botswana, Africa.

Ballooning over the Namib Desert in Sossousveli is a life changing experience. The sheer scale of wild nature is breath-taking. The silence of the balloon ride only reinforces the majesty of the terrain underneath.

Lakadima is famous not only to eco-tourists from around the world but in her own territory. Hyenas follow her every footstep, forcing her to hunt for food for her cubs in the middle of the day. On this day when we tracked her she had killed an Impala only to have it taken away by a Hyena. As the sun set she is looking mournfully at the Hyena eating and waiting for a chance to use the receding light to sneak in and retake her prey.

The Skeleton Coast in Namibia is dry and desolate but still full of life if you know where to find it. These Cacti point the way towards the mountains in the distance, the route traveled by Himba tribesmen as they herd their cattle from one sparse forage location to another.

This "roaring" Sand Dune in the Skeleton Coast area of Namibia caught my eye right away. As the wind whipped around me blowing sand up from the dune it was a real challenge to set up my camera and tripod in the right position to frame the sensual curves of sand. Then it was a matter of waiting until the curves moved into the shape I was looking for and the swirling sand settled enough to let me capture the image. -- Sand Dune in the Skeleton Coast area, Damaland, Namibia. Also known as a Roaring Dune because of the sound they make when disturbed. The constantly changing patterns in the sand create unique geometric patterns.

Kalahari Bushmen telling stories while they build a fire using the local grass and sticks. The Bushmen have relied on stories as the way to transfer their extensive and vital knowledge of their environment for tens of thousands of years, almost unchanged. Only the modern garb on the youngest bushman gives away the century.

There are few landmarks in the Khalahari Desert. Early in the day we saw this row of Palm trees and imagined returning for a silhouette shot with the colors of sunset. Fortunately we were rewarded with gorgeous red and ghostly blue tones and able to get to a good vantage point to record them. Khalaharii Desert, Botswana 1/ 180s, at f/4 || E.Comp:0 || 360mm || WB: AUTO 0. || ISO: 400 || Tone: AUTO || Sharp: AUTO || Camera: NIKON D2Hon: 2006:12:09 08:48:04

There are only a few moments each dawn where the natural sunlight lights the Sossusvlei Sand Dunes in the Namib Desert, Namibia. Finding a dune with a yin & yang contrast of light and shade with contrasting stunted trees in front was the first challenge in making this photograph. The second was being there at dawn on a morning where the atmosphere was clear enough to create the image. With no other humans within miles the morning was completely silent and reminded me of just how wild the desert can be. In an area which had not had rain for over 20 years it was amazing to see that there were still thriving plants and lots of small animals.